


fuzzybrain

by orphan_account



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Existentialism, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mortality, Not Proofread, Octopunk Media, One Shot, Sad, because canon reed900 kinda sucks, connor pops in for a little while, detroit evolution based, idk how long this is gonna be?, just being gay n shit like they do, just like really sad, tina and ada in the background, you get the drill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-06
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:07:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24037852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: "This is gonna sound, like, super fucking weird, but.. How long does your model.. Um, live?""That's not weird." He smiled. "My battery lasts longer than my predecessors. It lasts 200 years.""What happens when the battery dies?"The smile went somber. "I think you know the answer to that question, Gavin."They were quiet for a moment. Sometimes Nines wondered if he would be better off if he had never been deviant, with all the anxiety surrounding mortality that came with consciousness. It was selfish, and he knew that.He thought that if he had never gone deviant, Gavin might be dead already.Quietly, Gavin began to cry.
Relationships: Tina Chen/Original Female Character(s), Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed
Comments: 6
Kudos: 49





	fuzzybrain

**Author's Note:**

> ⚠️  
> TRIGGER WARNING FOR ALCOHOLISM MENTAL ILLNESS DEATH AND SUICIDE  
> ⚠️

"Oh my god, get _down from there,_ dumbass!"

Tina chortled, falling over onto Nines, who simply watched with astonishment from several feet away.

Gavin was climbing onto the bar, glass in hand, bartender beneath him appearing to be particularly unpleased. The person's arms were crossed and they glared up at him, waiting for this drunken charade to be over with.

He finally pulled himself up, looking over the quite small number of people looking at him.

"Ladies and gents, I..! ..Would like to toast, to- To raise toast to my lovely!-"

He pointed over to Nines, giving him a sloppy smile. _Jesus fucking Christ._

"My.. Lovely husband! Everyone drink to himmm." He then raised his arms up in triumph. Some scattered applause and laughter. Laughing at him, not with him.

His BAC was near .1 percent.

"Honey?"

"Mhmmm."

"How about you come back down here?"

"That.. Is a looovely idea."

* * *

Their eleventh anniversary was only a few weeks prior, and Gavin had made him a mixtape- Of course, it was basically obsolete, but he thought it was cool and Nines went along with it. He still hadn't listened to it. Gavin had a cassette player in surprisingly good condition but there was always just something more important to do. They argued about stuff like that sometimes, little things that were just emotionally impactful enough to light a match in them. 

Tina and Ada never fought like that, that Nines knew of. They'd been dating for maybe five years now? He only saw them argue playfully, or if there was a monumental issue.

To be fair Gavin got upset over big issues too. He just didn't confront Nines about them. He hid them until he couldn't anymore and tried to drink them away. Gavin was too scared of drugs to go back to them but Nines didn't think alcoholism was really that great either. He still loved him.

"Hey, Nines?"

He turned his head over in bed. Gavin's sleep schedule had been fucked for years now. He either didn't get enough of it or slept the day away and got nothing done.

He looked worried. He was sober.

"What's up?" Nines turned his body completely towards him.

"This is gonna sound, like, super fucking weird, but.. How long does your model.. Um, live?"

"That's not weird." He smiled. "My battery lasts longer than my predecessors. It lasts 200 years."

"What happens when the battery dies?"

The smile went somber. "I think you know the answer to that question, Gavin."

They were quiet for a moment. Sometimes Nines wondered if he would be better off if he had never been deviant, with all the anxiety surrounding mortality that came with consciousness. It was selfish, and he knew that.

He thought that if he had never gone deviant, Gavin might be dead already.

Quietly, Gavin began to cry. 

Nines took him into his arms and rubbed the back of his head gently. "Get some sleep. You need it."

* * *

"Happy birthday dear Gavin, happy birthday to you.."

Ada blew a noise maker with a grin. "How do you feel, old man?"

Gavin sent her a sarcastic side eye. "Hey. Fifty isn't old. Just you wait until I'm senile."

Nines gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "You're so silly."

Fifty wasn't old, but it was getting there, and it wasn't like Gavin's drinking had improved. His anger issues weren't as bad as they were around this time the year before, though, so he was definitely making progress. He was just making progress in, what Nines considered, the less important areas. Where Nines was analytical and sweet, Gavin was still somewhat hot-headed and impulsive. Still, Nines loved him.

On the drive home, Gavin told him, "You know, time passes so fast.. I can't even remember last month. I mean, I know you can. You've got that supercomputer in your head. Me? I just got.. I dunno. I'm not making much sense, I suppose."

"No. It makes sense to me. Your memory's been going bad for a while now, Gavin."

Gavin sighed, pulling into the driveway and staring down at the steering wheel. "God.. I've got a headache."

"I can make you some chamomile tea, honey."

"You know what?" He put a hand on Nines' shoulder with a warm smile. "That would be great."

* * *

Gavin's "going bad memory" was becoming a real issue, and it wasn't only that that was causing problems with him. Nines would see Gavin wake in the middle of the night claiming he heard screaming. He would fall over constantly, to the point where, when they were in public, he kept his arm securely around Nines' shoulders to avoid it. 

"Sounds like you should take him to a doctor, Nines. Actually, I don't know why you haven't yet."

Connor had a disappointed look in his eyes. Okay, maybe it was a little late to be having this discussion- The memory issues had been seriously affecting him since '46, but it honestly wasn't until recently that Gavin showed interest in getting help for whatever was going on with him. "I mean, he's only fifty, right? It's not normal for his health to be deteriorating this fast, this soon."

"Maybe it's the alcoholism? He's been dealing with it since he was forty-three."

"Possibly. I don't know."

These meetings were always so awkward. Nines wasn't really sure why they kept doing them. He suspected it might just be because it was routine.

* * *

Gavin had tests run on him for hours a week before they revisited to see the results. He attempted to reassure Nines that it would be nothing serious and that he didn't have to come. He knew if it was something serious and he didn't see it firsthand, Gavin would lie to him and say that it was nothing.

"Mr. Reed, you have Korsakoff syndrome."

"What's that?"

Nines ran a quick search. Korsakoff syndrome is a dementia-like mental disorder, most commonly caused by alcohol misuse. It starts out tolerable, with the inability to create new memories or gain access to your pre-existing ones. It then progresses to hallucinations, loss of muscle coordination, then confusion and loss of mental activity, leading to a comatose state and/or death.

Though it only took him a moment to get the information he needed to know on it, the doctor (human, shockingly; not many of those left employed) had to explain it to Gavin aloud.

The treatment plan included hospitalization and doses of thiamine. Because they didn't catch it early and the symptoms had already been progressing pretty aggressively, they felt the need to get him admitted as soon as possible.

Nines visited Gavin when he could, occasionally bringing a friend along with. He still loved Gavin so much. So, so much.

* * *

Gavin was nearing his fifty-third birthday and he was still hospitalized. Still being given thiamine. It wasn't very effective, which was curious as Korsakoff syndrome is a deficiency of thiamine. 

He was in terrible condition but he was alive. He was conscious. Nines prayed it stayed that way.

It didn't.

Gavin fell into a coma on August 2, 2055.

He never woke up.

* * *

Gavin Reed was buried in the Elmwood Cemetery, right off of the fittingly named Elmwood Road. Nines didn't attend the funeral. He couldn't cry. It was physically impossible for him to.

It was coming and he knew it. With the amount Gavin drank and did dumb shit, he wasn't going to last very longer than 53 even without Korsakoff. That didn't make it feel any better. Sure, the bed had been empty for some time, but it was permanent now. He was just.. Gone.

Nines had never in his 18 years of deviancy had someone important to him die. He didn't know how to handle it. He neglected the many, many phone calls he'd received from his close friends and he didn't leave the house. He could count the days he'd locked himself inside but he didn't have the energy to.

He stared in the mirror an undetermined amount of time since something happened. Though, now he couldn't remember what it was. Surely something must have happened. Why did the house, and more importantly, he feel so empty? Wasn't he always alone?

It felt as though there were a gap in his code where memories once were, where surely something else was there with him in them once, only now he was alone in them. Whatever it was, he no longer felt love for it.

He desperately wanted to fix this. Nines found himself in the kitchen, though not recalling going in. There was a knife block on the counter in front of him. He gripped the biggest one. There was a voice in his head telling him that he would meet all the answers on the other side.

It was all going to be okay.

He slowly pushed the blade into his chest, a sense of euphoria washing over him.

It was all going to be okay.

The memories of him alone flashed back, only now there was a man in them with him, 

Nines smiled.

It was all going to be okay.

"Gavin,

And it was over.


End file.
